Benefits of Taking Cold Showers
1. Building a Strong Will Power
There are so many articles on these benefits and none of them lists this point as a benefit of taking ice-cold showers despite its importance. Cold showers build an immense will power. For instance any cold shower virgin has to develop a high amount of will power to take the first step to taking such a bath. Doing something that you were resistant to in the past takes a high amount of mental strength. After sometime, this discipline and mental strength becomes a habit that is automated and will be entrenched in every aspect of your life.
2. Improving Emotional Resilience
If you get anxious, pissed off or flustered easily then a cold shower can help you. Cold baths assist in training the nervous system to become more resilient to life stresses. A study has proven that a cold shower works like an oxidative stress albeit in a small form on your nervous system and with time the body adapts. You will be able to transform into a cool and calm gentleman. When you get into the shower for the first time, you will not think straight or even breath but a month later you will be able to think all about your day with focus as the cold water will not affect your manliness. Just like you will be able to withstand the cold water, you will also be able to easily brush off all the stressful issues that would spoil your mood typically. James Bond takes Scottish showers where he starts with hot water and finishes in cold water and he is cool and calm at all times.
3. Stress Reduction
Bathing using cold water helps in lowering your uric acid levels in the body and also boosts the Glutathione levels in your blood. This will generally reduce the amount of stress you will be having in your life.
4. They Increase Alertness
When taking a cold shower for the first time, it is not easy breathing when under the water. However, this should not scare you as the deep breathing you learn to take every morning dramatically increases your heart rate and oxygen intake. This results in more natural doses of energy through the entire day. The ice cold water will make you to be more alert than your colleagues at work.
5. They Improve Your Hair and Skin
If you are looking for ways of improving the appearance of your skin and hair then taking a cold shower is one of the best bets to take and it is absolutely free. According to Jessica Krant, a certified dermatologist, cold water improves your skin by ensuring that it does not lose too many of the natural oils on it and this also applies to your hair. Your hair will appear strong, healthy and shiny as a cold shower keeps your follicles flat and increases the grip they have on your scalp. This will certainly come as great news to all guys out there who are really scared of losing their hair.
6. Stimulating Weight Loss
Cold showers will also help you look better by stimulating the loss of fat from your body. Our bodies have two type of fats; the brown and white fat. White fat is bad as it is the fat that is present in our bodies that everybody hates. Brown fat on the other hand is good and it is charged with generating heat to keep the body warm. When you bathe using cold water, the brown fat is usually activated thereby increasing the calories and energy necessary to keep the body warm. Cold temperatures have been found by this study to increase the activation rate of brown fat to almost fifteen times of the normal rate. This results in the loss of nine pounds of your weight annually. Tim Ferris, the author of The Four Hour Body book, notes that ice baths are a great way of promoting weight loss.
7. They Increase Your Testosterone Levels
Another cool benefit of taking cold showers for men is the fact that it leads to an increase in the testosterone levels. It has been proved that heat albeit how small the amount is causes an effect on your RNA, DNA and the protein synthesis in your testes. It is for a fact that the testes are found outside the body so as to remain cool. An increase in heat on your testes shows a significant drop in your testosterone levels according to a study using rat testes. It is not a wonder that the Russian Weightlifters sat out in the cold prior to taking part in their competitions, proving that there is a relationship between cold showers and testosterone levels.
8. Boosting Your Fertility
Cold showers help in boosting your sperm count and also in increasing fertility. Hot baths have become a male contraceptive that is very effective as taking a hot shower daily for 3 weeks renders you infertile for 6 months. A study conducted at USCF proved that men who steered clear of hot baths had their sperm count increase to 491%. Even though hot showers are not devastating on your sperms, it is advisable to opt for cold showers if you are attempting to conceive.
9. They Improve Blood Circulation
If you are not motivated to take a cold shower in order to look better, feel better then being healthier ought to motivate you. Cold showers help improve your circulation by sending blood to all your organs to ensure they are warm. The stimulation that your circulatory system gets is beneficial to your cardiovascular health.
10. They Improve Immunity
Increasing your immunity is another important benefit of these cold showers. A study conducted in England showed that regular cold showers can increase the number of white blood cells compared to those who take hot showers. The hypothesis behind this is that the body will try to keep itself warm during shower time thereby increasing the immune system activation and metabolic speed rate. This process results in more white blood cells.
11. Draining Your Lymphatic System
Your lymphatic system, which is responsible for carrying waste from your cells, is affected by the cold showers. It helps your body to defend itself from some unwanted infections and frequent joint pain, colds and infections are signs of a blocked lymphatic system. Alternating hot and cold showers helps in contracting the lymph vessels pumping out the fluid to promote your health and immune system.
12. Speeding Up Muscle Recovery
Athletes understand that taking an ice bath is the fastest and surest way to recovering faster (2009 study). If you do not have this high tech facility, you can take a cold shower to help in improving circulation and removing lactic acid. Try alternating between very cold and hot to let your blood flow to the surface.
13. Relieving Depression
Cold showers also relieve depression symptoms by stimulating the “blue spot” which is noradrenaline’s primary source for the brain. This chemical helps in alleviating depression. Cold shower sends a mild electroshock to your brain resulting in an effect that is anti-depressive. There are so many cold receptors on your skin than the ones for warmth according to a study.
14. Waking You Up
Cold water will definitely wake you up in the morning. You will be alert for the day ahead and if you have any issues waking up in the morning then a cold shower will assist you to change the situation.
15. Putting You to Sleep
As ironic as it may sound, cold showers are capable of waking you up in the morning but it is also a great way to assure you of a good night sleep. Tim Ferris in The Four Hour Body expounds on the cold therapy and talks about taking an ice bath for 10 minutes.
Author Bio: Personal trainer based out of Kelowna, BC who has a passion for helping people get into great shape. Feel free to follow me on social media. Twitter, Facebook.
